| Resource partitioning, the founding of specialist firms, and innovation: The American feature film industry, 1912-1229 |
| | Mezias, John M. | U. of Miami | jmezias@miami.edu | (305)-284-1073 |
| | Mezias, Steven J. | New York U. | smezias@stern.nyu.edu | 212-998-0229 |
| | This study uses an ecological perspective to understand determinants of the foundings of specialist organizations in the early American
feature film industry. Given the need for innovative products and the preservation of expressive freedom that characterize a cultural industry
such as film, we believe that the presence of small specialist firms may be crucial in these industries. Using a resource-partitioning model,
this study investigates organizational founding events of specialist producers and specialist distributors and links these with the presence
of large generalist producer distributors. Specifically, we examine the hypothesis that concentration among these large firms will be
associated with hihger rates of foundings of specialist producers and specialist distributors. We augment existing empirical work on the
resource partitioning model by controlling for the effects of competition using both the density and mass dependence models. We also
investigate whether specialists were more active in the creation of new film genres than were generalists. Results indicate significant findings
that increased concentration among generalists had a positive effect on foundings of specialist producers and specialist distributors and that
the specialists were more active in the creation of new film genres. Implications of these findings are discussed. |
| | Keywords: resource-partitioning; specialists; innovation |
| Creating the Enemy: Population Level Change Through the Creation of a Specialized Niche by Generalist Network Realignment in the U.S. Airline Industry |
| | Seidel, Marc-David L. | U. of Texas, Austin | seidel@uts.cc.utexas.edu | 512-471-7057 |
| | The goal of this study is to estimate the effects of network centralization on the resource partitioning process. Structural hole theory is integrated with the resource partitioning theory to develop several testable hypotheses, dealing with the differing effects of network centralization on generalist and specialist firms. The hypotheses especially pertain to the conditions fostering specialist emergence and growth in changing industry populations. The United States airline industry is used to test the hypotheses proposed. Finally, the resource partitioning process is restated in network terminology and concepts. Strong support is found for the use of network centralization to measure the specialist niche in resource partitioning. |
| | Keywords: Resource partitioning; Structural holes; Population level change |
| Organizational and interorganizational effects on corporate expansion: impacts of relation-specific and general assets on interfirm link continuity during international expansion |
| | Martin, Xavier | New York U. | xmartin@stern.nyu.edu | (212)-998-0414 |
| | This research seeks to reconcile two perspectives on corporate expansion, that emphasize firm-level and vertical interfirm effects respectively. According to the firm-centered perspective, a firm will expand into new markets if it possesses unique assets that are applicable to current and new buyers alike. According to the relationship-centered perspective, expansion by a current buyer will prompt supplier expansion. I employ the distinction between relation-specific and general (non-relation-specific) assets to reconcile these predictions. I discuss two outcomes: (1) supplier expansion into a foreign market (foreign direct investment); and (2) whether, after the supplier and a current buyer both expand into a foreign market, their subsidiaries will establish a trading link in the new market (link recreation).
I argue that if a buyer and a supplier share strong relation-specific assets then (1) supplier expansion will follow buyer expansion and (2) following expansion, the buyer and the supplier will to recreate their link in the new market. I argue that if a supplier possesses strong general assets then (1) it will expand independently of current buyers and (2) if both parties expand, link recreation will occur in the new market. Empirically, I examine expansion timing and link recreation among a sample of Japanese automotive assemblers and suppliers entering the United States and Canada between 1978 and 1990. The results generally support the predictions. They suggest further research about how relation-specific assets support foreign direct investment and other forms of corporate diversification. |
| | Keywords: corporate expansion; relation-specific assets; theory of the firm |
| From Red Vienna to the Anschluss: Ideological Competition Among Viennese Newspapers During the Rise of National Socialism |
| | Barnett, William P. | Stanford U. | Barnett_William@gsb.stanford.edu | 650 723 1421 |
| | Woywode, Michael Johannes | U. of Mannheim | woywode@bwl.uni-mannheim.de | 650-723-1421 |
| | Periods of social and political change often are marked by struggles among
competing ideologies. Given the importance of formal organizations to such
struggles, we propose that competitions among ideologies can be understood
and modeled as an ecology of organizations. In this spirit, we develop a
model of ideological competition among organizations, and investigate our
ideas using data on newspapers in Vienna over the period 1918 to 1938. This
was a period of considerable social and political change in Vienna. + |
| | Keywords: Organizational Ecology; Organizational Ideology |